Winemaker Notes
La Cuvee from Gramona is sourced from 13 growers/members of Aliances per la Terra, an organization established to promote organic and biodynamic farming in the Penedès. Currently, all these growers are certified organic, and 12 a certified biodynamic. The most “youthful” of the sparkling wines released by Gramona.
Blend: 45% Xarel.lo, 45% Macabeu, and 10% Parellada
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I also tasted the 2021 Aliances La Cuvee as no 2020 was produced because of mildew. They have been working with the association Alianzas por la Tierra (now mentioned on the label as part of the brand name), but with the arrival of the next generation (in 2018), from these 200 hectares of biodynamic vineyards, they started working with lieux-dits or "parajes." They tell me that the 2021 vintage is the first time the work has some influence in the wines (and they change the label), selecting the relatively young vines and more approachable wines from the north and around the Anoia River with more sand in the soil. The wine is quite balsamic, very young and waxy, their youngest cuvée ever, as they run out of wine. It's approachable and balanced. There is less sugar here, under three grams, so the wine has a different balance; slowly we will see drier wines. It's young and lively and has bright acidity. The wine finishes dry, very tasty and precise.
Rating: 91+
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
A superior source of white grapes for the production of Spain’s prized sparkling wine, Cava, the Penedes region is part of Catalunya and sits just south of Barcelona. Medio Penedès is the most productive source of the Cava grapes, Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada. Penedes also grows Garnacha and Tempranillo (here called Ull de Llebre in Catalan), for high quality reds and rosès.